Smile Warrior ... Abel Pienaar

Our guest, Dr Abel Pienaar, is co-founder and director of SES, the Centre for Contemporary Spirituality. He studied under Thich Nhat Hanh (Zen Buddhist, France) and learnt from the Dalai Lama, Fr. Thomas Keating, Bishop John Selby Spong, Kobus Krüger en Ken Wilber. To Abel free flow of information and access to different ideas is very important. Even more important is the freedom to decide for yourself, without censorship, how you actually want to live your life. Abel writes a weekly column in the Rapport Newspaper.
 

Some of the interesting questions in my discussion with Abel: Why did he leave the NG kerk? What really happened at the "Woordfees" in Stellenbosch? How does he see the concept of "heaven and hell" ? Why are people reluctant to take hands across religious barriers? How can we build bridges across those barriers that divide us?  Click below to listen to a podcast of the show.



Congratulations to the winner of our lucky draw competition. Dexter Pienaar. ( No relation to Abel! ) He wins  two tickets to Karin Hougaard's show, Alien Sky, in the Atterbury theatre on Friday night.  He writes:

How I, Dexter Pienaar, make this world more sustainable:

Being a student studying food science and nutrition I have seen time and over again how big companies readily exchange quality of ingredients for profit. This usually has an impact on the environment as these cheaper ingredients are produced in large quantities and are subject to genetic modification, pesticides and growth hormones. I am however not condoning these methods/substances but in these dire times with increasing food prices, I have made my own vegetable garden and herb garden.

I love cooking and having a herb garden in the backyard is so much more convenient than having to drive to your local fruit and vegetable store. Having your own vegetable garden makes this world so much more sustainable. We can all grow our own food believe it or not. We have all been brainwashed to believe that everything we need has to be bought in shiny wrapping and packaging. When you grow your own fruits and vegetables you immediately eliminate the “plastic factor” i.e. The packaging you would have had to remove before chopping up your cabbage for dinner. A lot less harmful pesticides are used, it’s much more convenient for yourself, you enrich the soil and save a lot of money every month.

I make this world more sustainable by producing my own food and refusing to believe that I have to buy everything from a store. - D Pienaar.

Become part of the iStart2 tribe by "Liking" our iStart2 facebook page and join our movement. Let's take hands to create a more sustainable world.

Join me every Monday at 18h30 (SA Time) and listen to the show on Radio Today 1485 am in Jo'burg, catch us nationally on DSTV Audio Channel 169 or worldwide on www.1485.org.za.

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